Amartya Sen Land Row: Bengal District Court Fixes Hearing On May 30

A court in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Wednesday fixed May 30 as the next date of hearing on Visva-Bharati's notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen asking him to vacate 0.13 acre (5,500 square feet) of land which the central university claims he is illegally occupying.

Visva-Bharati had sent the eviction notice to the economist on April 19, asking him to vacate 0.13 acre of the total 1.38 acres of land of his ancestral residence 'Pratichi' in the university's Santiniketan campus within May 6.

The Calcutta High Court has put an interim stay on that order and asked the Birbhum district judge to hear the matter on at 2 pm on May 10.

As the district judge Sudeshna De (Chatterjee) is on leave, the matter was heard by district judge in-charge Sarajit Majumder.

Since the morning court's timings end before 2 pm, judge Majumdar opined the matter will be heard again on May 30.

The stay on the eviction order would be effective till the date of disposal of the case.

Amartya Sen had earlier moved the district court in Suri against the eviction notice, but it set May 15 as the date of hearing, well after the university's deadline to vacate the land. The interim stay by the high court came after that.

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